1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container closure, and more particularly, to a container closure having both vertical and horizontal seals in the flow path.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Current push-pull type closures are commonly used for sports drinks, bottled water, liquid soaps and the like. Conventionally, these closures include a base or shell attached to the container, with a slidable tip moveable on the shell. In this conventional arrangement, the shell must be attached sufficiently to resist the tip opening forces. The shell will typically include a stop to limit the movement of the tip to the open position. The forces of opening the tip (i.e., the pulling of the tip against the shell stop) tend to act to directly pull the shell from the container. The force of opening the tip can be significant, particularly with certain materials in the containers. For example, soaps and syrups can make reopening of the closure require greater forces than in the original opening of the closure. Therefore, the attachment of the shell to the container must be sufficiently strong to resist these forces.
Additionally, typical push-pull type closures do not allow for a staged release of pressure within the container prior to the release of liquid in the container. The staged release of pressure is often used in closures, such as threaded flat caps, for carbonated beverages or other pressurized fluids (e.g., nitrogenated water). The staged pressure release most commonly used includes breaks in the internal cap threads.
All container closures almost by definition have seals for sealing the container opening. Within the meaning of this application, these seals can be categorized as either vertical seals or horizontal seals defined by the axis or line of pressure on the closure seal.
A vertical seal is a seal in which the container closure is directly forcing the seal against a sealing surface. The typical example of a vertical seal is a liner in a threaded flat cap that is forced against the container opening as the cap is threaded to the closed position. The term xe2x80x9cvertical sealxe2x80x9d is used because in a standing container (e.g., a bottle) the sealing forces of these seals are often aligned or arranged vertically, however the seals may certainly be in any orientation.
A horizontal seal is a seal in which the container closure, or movement of the container closure, is not directly forcing the seal against a sealing surface. The movement of the container closure between the open and closed position will typically move the horizontal seal from a position engaging a sealing surface to an open position not engaging the sealing surface, but this motion is not along the sealing axis. Push-pull type closures typically use one or more horizontal seals between the tip and a stem extending from the shell. Horizontal seals typically can slide along the sealing member maintaining the seal throughout at least a portion of the tip movement, until the seal is moved past the sealing member (or to a gap in the sealing member). The term xe2x80x9chorizontal sealxe2x80x9d is used because in a standing container (e.g., a soap container) the seals and the sealing forces of these seals are often aligned or arranged horizontally; however, the seals may certainly be in any orientation.
All closures define a flow path from the container opening for dispensing the contents of the container when the closure is in the open position. Seals in the closure that open and close this flow path are considered, within the meaning of this application, to be within the flow path. Closures can also have seals that are permanently engaged, and thus are out of or beyond the flow path. For example, in a typical push-pull closure the tip will include horizontal seals that are maintained in permanent engagement with the shell. In the open position, the seals beyond the flow path prevent the container contents from flowing around the back end of the tip.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a container closure with a tip in which the tip opening does not act to remove the closure from the container. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container closure that simplifies the construction of the closure. It is another object of the present invention to provide a container closure that provides staged release of pressure. It is another object of the present invention to provide a container closure that is economically manufactured through injection molding or the like. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container closure that requires only a single tamper evident band to indicate initial opening of the container closure. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an effective, easily usable container closure for a container.
The above objects are achieved with a container closure according to the present invention. The container closure is attached to a container having an opening. The closure includes a tip movable between an open and a closed position. The tip has an opening adapted to be in fluid communication with the container opening with the tip in the open position, wherein a flow path for contents of the container is defined between the container opening and the tip opening when the tip is in the open position. The tip further includes at least one horizontal seal in the flow path for sealing the closure when the tip is in the closed position and at least one vertical seal in the flow path for sealing the closure when the tip is in the closed position. The tip may be attached directly to the container and the motion of the tip from the closed to the open position may be stopped directly by the container.
In one embodiment of the present invention the tip further includes at least one horizontal seal beyond the flow path that remains sealed throughout the tip motion between the closed and open positions, and a vertical seal beyond the flow path that is sealed when the tip is in the closed position. The tip may further include at least two horizontal seals in the flow path for sealing the closure with the tip in the closed position. The closure may provide for a staged release of pressure (i.e., before release of liquid from the container) as the tip is moved from the closed to the open position. The tip may be threaded or otherwise attached directly to the container.
The closure according to the invention may further include a dome attached to the container covering the container opening. The dome has at least one dome opening in fluid communication with the container opening and the tip opening when the tip is in the open position, wherein the seals of the tip in the flow path seal against the dome. The tip may further include at least one horizontal seal beyond the flow path that remains sealed directly against the container when the tip is in the closed and open positions. The motion of the tip from the closed to the open position may be stopped directly by the container, wherein the movement of the tip from the closed to the open position does not act to remove the dome from the container. The forces from the vertical seals between the tip and the dome may be transferred directly to the container through the dome. The dome may include a concave portion in which the at least one dome openings are formed, wherein the dome provides self-draining to return contents to the container. The smallest piece of the closure, the dome, is captured between the tip and the container providing safety advantages to the present invention. The dome remains captured even if it is dislodged from the container.
The closure may further include no more than one tamper evident band on the closure to indicate initial opening of the closure, wherein the single tamper evident band is attached to the tip. In one embodiment of the invention, the tip may also be attached to the dome, also referred to as a shell in this embodiment, which is attached to the container.
These and other advantages of the present invention will be clarified in the description of the preferred embodiments taken together with the attached drawings in which like reference numerals represent like elements throughout.